Best and Worst Mafia Book

I know we have a section for this, but it is real life organized crime. I was wondering what is everyones best and worst Mafia books? Mine are as follows:

BEST: Five Familes by Selwen Raab
WORST: Making Jack Falcone

Close seconds to best: Underboss, Gaspipe and Murder Machine

BEST: It's a tie between The Brotherhoods (by Guy Lawson and William Oldham) and Blood And Honor (by George Anastasia).
WORST: Philip Carlo's Gaspipe was really bad. You can't write a book with that many errors.

I agree with you 100 percent about the errors. You know, its weird for me. I freaking HATE phillip Carlo but I loved Gaspipe, That has more to do with my fascination of Casso more than anything though.

What were the errors in Gaspipe? I thought Carlo sat down with Casso to get his info. Is Casso or Carlo lying, or both?

I really don't know what happened, but I know Philip Carlo was very sick when he wrote the book. He was a true hero who fought like a goddamn Comanche. RIP Philip Carlo.

This is a great post to sum up Phillip Carlo. The ONLY issue I have with Phillip Carlo is not checking his sources. The Iceman was the BIGGEST lying, false piece of shit book Ive ever read. He basically sat down and let Kuklinski vomit from his mouth and put it to paper, slapped some numbers on the pages and binded it with a cover and called it a "true Crime" book.

One thing Carlo can do is spin something though. I loved his saying which we have all read a million times....The La Costa Nostra drums resonated throughout the concrete world of Mafiadom"

Best: A tie between "Five Families," by Selwyn Raab, and "Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life," by Robert Lacey.

Worst: There are SOOOOO many bad ones it's hard to really say which is the worst. The Carlo books are awful (although I did respect the man for the way he fought his illness). The Bill Roemer books are a disgrace, even if they do make for interesting historical fiction. The problem is, they weren't marketed that way. He'd have you believe they were the Gospel truth. And pretty much anything written by a relative of a dead wiseguy (the Giancanas, the Capones, the Gottis, et al.) Those people deserve a special place in Hell just for trying to justify the lifestyles of their lost loved ones, then trying to cash in on the family name.

"The Brotherhood" was my favorite book too. It had a lot of info about Casso and Kaplan that I wasn't aware of, I had a hard time putting this book down. I also liked "Gaspipe" a lot despite the errors. Murder Machine and Underboss were great books too, I just hated how they tried to make the rats ( Montiglio and Gravano) out to be sympathetic and heroic characters. The first mafia book I read was "Boss of Bosses" years ago, and from what I remember it was a good read.

The worst I've read are "Double Cross" and "Made Men."

my personal fav was murder machine true page turner. for the sins of my father sucked

I honestly have over 70-80 True Crime Mafia books and I have never heard of either, would love to purchase them though. I am assuming I would have to do it online though as I go to Barnes and Nobles every Sunday and I have not seen them there yet.

My favorites after "Five Families" are:
Gaspipe- Carlo is terrible at facts though, my goodness.
UnderBoss
Mafia son-about teh scarpa family
The Good Rat- Mob cops and Burt Kaplan book. This is actuially a VERY VERY good read now that I think about it. Alot of court transcripts from the Mob Cops trial from Burt Kaplan, VERY good read.
Mob Cops: Another very good read
Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco Unfinished Business
Murder Machine

And one no one has mentioned that is FANTASTIC:
King OF Godfathers: The story of Big Joey Massino by Anthony Destefano.

also another good one no one has mentioned:
The Enforcer: The true story of Tony "the Ant" Spilatro

I can see I'm not adding anything new, but here goes:

Best: Five Families/Murder Machine
Worst: Gaspipe was hot garbage.

I'm with PB all the way here. I'd just add "King of the Godfathers" by Anthony DiStefano, and "Capone" by John Kobler, to the "best" list. The bads are too numerous to mention.

The worst I ever read was the Sam and Chuck Giancanna book. It was absolutely ridiculous. They claimed he was responsible for Vietnam, had Hoover in their pocket, had all the presidents in their pocket, killed JFK and RFK, had the Catholic church in their pocket, and on and on and on. I can't even remember all the garbage in that one.

On top of it being absolutely stupid, it was vile because there was really a trashy kind of mentality behind it. The subtext was that, yeah, Giancana was a pyschopathic monster, which he most assuredly was--but he was also kind of a hero who could do anything he wanted to anyone at any time. You must fear Giancana! He was a piece of trash.

Jonathan Eig's "Get Capone" was not too good either, the theory it advanced on the St. Valentine's Day Massacre was absolutely ludicrous and I have a hard time believing that Eig himself believed it when he published it. John Binder demolished it in 30 seconds, almost apologetically. But Eig had the right publisher and the book sold, a bunch of know-nothing reviewers gave it the green light.

My favorite book on the mob is "Family Secrets" because it gives such a crystalline view into the recent goings-on of the Outfit. No one had ever, at least in Chicago, spilled it like Nick Calabrese did. And it's also a story about the city, a story about the Chicago of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, that, simply, no longer exists. It's a story about guys who were essentially dinosaurs, living in a different age, long after the world around them had changed.

Binder's "Chicago Outfit" is excellent, a thoroughly researched and succinct history of the Chicago mob from a real expert.

I read a biography on Jack McGurn that was pretty good, no idea how the writer pieced that together. They did a good job though.

I want to read Murder Machine. I'm not that interested in the East Coast mob primarily because it's opening another can of worms and I already waste too much time reading about the Chicago mob, but DeMeo definitely captured my imagination. I Googled some images of the old Gemini lounge, that place is now a church for immigrants!

That's one thing interesting about reading about the mob, it tells the stories of cities, and how they change.

Little Man was beautifully written. Lacey definitely knows how to put together elegant sentences, but I felt he didn't understand the subject. He did not understand how Lansky operated and the importance of the men that were around him. Lacey looks at Lansky's bank account, talks to the heavily medicated son Buddy and assumes Lansky was just a poor old man who had merely been a victim of flaky journalists looking to cash in on his name. I am not someone who buys into conspiracy theories or the legends of these men, but the truth is Lansky was much more complex than Lacey would have his readers believe. Meyer Lansky never owned property. He, however owned people who owned property.

I know that shortly before Lansky got in trouble with the IRS in the early 1970s, he had about $15 million in accounts that he had direct access to. Almost every penny of that was transferred to his brother Jake. Now $15 million in 1972 is $78 million in today's money. That is a lot of money and needless to say, Jake's family remains filthy rich. It is very ironic, considering the fact that Meyer's son, Buddy died choking on his own vomit in some very lonely circumstances.

"The Brotherhoods" is by Guy Lawson and William Oldham, it is about the Mafia Cops, many believe it is the best book written on the subject. You can pick it up at Barnes and Nobles, that is where I got it a little over a month ago. Oldham played a major part in bringing the case to court and flipping Burt Kaplan.

"Double Cross" is about Sam Giancana, it is written by his brother Chuck. This book is pure sensational garbage, it is truly unreadable in my opinion, I put it down after a couple dozen pages. The good thing is I didn't spend no money on it, I found it tucked away in my basement, one of my old brothers must have left it when they moved out. Johnnynonos gives a very accurate description of the book in his post.

You mention the book about Joey Massino, King of the Godfathers. Somehow that book passed my mind when I first responded to the topic, that book is definately in my top 3, it is probably the most well researched mafia book I've read, an absolute masterpiece.

Yes, Anthony DeStefano's King Of The Godfathers is definitely worth mentioning. He is an extremely thorough guy and of very few mafia writers I hold in high regard.

Wiseguy is a classic.

I also love the books that get more into the nuts n' bolts business of the mob. Books like Gotham Unbound, Takedown, Vicious Circles, etc.

Ive said many times how much I loved "Gaspipe" and I have also said I think Phillip Carlo is a joke of an Author for not checking his facts. On top of that, his research and errors are a joke. So I was curious about all the mistakes "Gaspipe" had in it so I went back and looked. This one takes the cake my fellow Mafia lovers:

While talking about John Gotti in Gaspipe Phillip Carlo says this:

"John Gotti was well liked by all the Gambino Capos while big Paul was boss except for Neil Delecroce and the Sacillian Faction"

He goes on to say:

"Gotti went around to all 26 Gambino Capos to make sure they would back him as boss, they only faction who would not back Gotti as boss was again Neil and the Sacllian Faction"


1. Neil was the BIGGEST Gotti supporter, we ALL know that. In fact, if it was not for him, Gotti would have been dead!!!

2. Gotti never actually went around to other members of the family for backing of killing Big Paul until Neil was dead. Gotti knew that Neil was so old school he would have not let him do it. Gotti mentioned it in passing to Neil but thats it, Neil of course berated him for even bringing it up.

Gotti's full plan was not even put together yet until AFTER Neil died. The straw that broke the camels back was Big Paul not attending Neils wake. With Neil dead, that was the good reason Gotti needed to whack Big Paul on top of others. Gotti knew as long as Neil was alive he couldnt whack Big Paul.

So as the ESPN Monday Night Countdown crew would say, Phillip Carlo, "C'Mon Man"

carlo also stated that casso is the one that killed roy demeo. i honestly don't believe that either.

Best book five families or black mass. Worst book unlocked by louis ferrante

It does not state that Casso Himself Kill Demeo. It does state that the Gambinos reached out to Casso because he had the Gemeni twins in his back pocket and they obviously could get close enough to kill Demeo.

All of that if factual, Casso did have the Gemeni Twins in his back pocket and the FBI believes that the Gemeni Twins are responsible for Demeos murder.

the only thing no one knows for sure, is if the Gambinos reached out to Gaspipe.

Many think that Nino Gaggi got the order from Big Paul and may have actually shot Roy first and the twins finsihed him off.

2 things are certain though:

1. Casso did not kill Roy himself
2. Kuklinski did not kill Roy as he has claimed.

I've been trying to "legally" get the ebook of "Five Families" but the online stores don't seem to allow people outside the U.S. to buy it...

Does someone know how I can get my hands on this ebook?

I can buy you a copy and my local barnes and nobles ans hip it to you, The book is like 20 or 30 bucks I think plus shipping. I can get you an exact #

That's kind of you, but I'm talking about the ebook which ofcourse has no shipping. The normal book is available for me in the Netherlands, only not the ebook. I prefer an ebook as you can very easily look things up that way.

Here. If eBooks.com won't send it to your isp in the Netherlands, I doubt anyone will.

http://www.ebooks.com/SearchApp/SearchResults.net?term=five+families&RestrictBy=

I already been there.

This book is only available to customers in the following countries: United States.

Mother*******

sorry its been a while since i read it i thought it did state that about casso. kuklinksi's book was sooo horriable. i mean cmon feeding people to man eating alive rats in pennsylvania? ive lived all over pennsylvania and have never seen a man eating rat. ive seen large rats down in the coal mines but not big enough to ever eat a man alive. i do believe that gaggi killed demeo. i believe that the gemini twins were involved in it as well.

Well, I've always thought that Roy was killed by the Gemini twins at Patty Testa's place after the Gambino's reached out to Gaspipe who set the thing up.

But one thing that had bugged me.....
The contract was first given to Gotti who couldnt get to Roy.
DeCicco couldnt get to Roy either so the Gambino;s reached out to Gaspipe.
Hmmmmm.............If I was Paul Castellano I would call in Nino Gaggi and say "you brought Roy into the family - YOU take him out".

I'm certain the twins killed him I just dont know if Nino was actually present or not!
But Richard Bullshitter Kuklinski certainly wasnt there - LOL

Richard couldn't have been there. He was busy planning the murder of Big Paul. Let's keep the facts straight.

yeah he just got done with galante murder and was way too busy to even think about demeo! the guy had way too much on his plate...but i don't know and i guess none of us ever will, i believe that nino did it with the gemini twins. i guess we have came to agreement that all those people were involved one way or another.

According to Jerry Capeci-Who is one of maybe 3 very trusted sources on the Mafia-Nino Gaggi fired the first shot and froze when Roy did not go down, then the twins pulled out their guns and finished him off. They did find three different calibers of guns in Demos body with one bullet from a revolver to the head, the rest were lodge in his hands and body. It is believed that Nino fired the first bullet from the revolver.

Also, Dominick Monteiglio (Nino's nephew and Gov Witness) verified this as well.

And about the Gambinos reaching out to Casso. I dont know about that, Casso says he had the Gemeni Twins in his back pocket and he did use them for work but I dont know.

Lets face it, Casso is a blow hard himself, not like Kuklinski by any means but a blow hard. Casso did not take credit for this hit until he realized the Gov was not going to honor his plea deal. I believe Big Paul went straight to Nino for this hit.

In fact, the only people who say that Gotti's crew passed the contract along was Casso himself. No one else has even so much as whispered a word that Gotti's crew ever got the contract.

I believe that had Gotti's crew actually got the contract they would have carried it out themselves anyway. John gotti wanted to be boss and he needed Roy out of the way as Nino was a huge backer of Big Paul and Roy was with Nino

i always thought they heard on a wire tap from gene gotti that he stated they offered john the contract and he said that my brother has killed less than 10 people and we know demeo has killed well over 38 himself. i think i read somewhere that in capecci's first gotti book that was the way they even heard of demeo was thru that wire tape. i could be mistaken tho.

They got that on a wiretap? I though they only got the details through informants.

Casso says he had the Gemeni Twins in his back pocket and he did use them for work but I dont know

Technically to do that, Casso would have needed Gambino permission to use the twins because they were Roy's men.

The book coming out that I'm most looking forward to read is Anthony DeStefano's book on Charles Carneglia. I'm wondering if there is enough interesting stuff or info to have an entire book on Charles Carneglia though. From what I remember he was never a big time player in the mafia, he certainly wasn't known for being a earner. He certainly had a number of hits under his belt, but didn't have the numbers of DeMeo, Pitera, or other prolific mafia killers, it should be interesting to see how the book plays out. I also thought Carneglia was shelved or "retired" quite a few years before he was arrested. When he got locked up he had a long and wild beard that I think is against mafia protocol.

It's not against mafia protocol. It's amazing that people even buy into this shit. Carneglia's entire legal strategy was built around his beard. It was the dumbest defense since My Cousin Vinny.

1. Last Testament of Lucky Luciano.

Writtne by Luciano. Classic

2. Blood and Honor - Philly Mob

3. Donnie Brasco

4. Breakshot - Kenny Gallo (second half of the book is on the
modern day Colombo family)

if my memory serves me right i think they did. for some reason i believe it was obtained from a wire tap between gene and quack quack during their heroin selling days. again if my memory serves me right i believe this also how they had a good idea about how big paul's men hated him so because quack quack also felt it was needed to concern his (others) disliking of castellano over the telephone

The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano apparantly is a fraud according to organized crime experts. And it isn't written by Luciano. The writer only used his notes.

people believe this because they said it in donnie brasco. for some reason this seems to be a large myth. ive also heard people bitching because billy bats had a moustache in goodfellas and they clearly stated that he was a made man from the gambinos. it very well could have been a capo's rule not to have a beard of facial hair in a certain crew. i would go as far as saying that perhaps one family may have banned facial hair. ive also heard theroys that made men perfer not to wear facial hair because of the moustache petes. again im not 100% sure about the facial hair rule but i honestly think people buy into it because of the donnie brasco movie.

could anybody tell me about Carneglia i don't know much about him except that he looks like the unabomber and is accused of murdering john favara. was he even made?

Its thought that Carneglia and Gene Gotti were the ones that fucked up disposing of Sonny Reds body (bet the Bonanno;s wish they had just done it themselves! - LOL)

Carneglia was a nasty son of a bitch who killed for Gotti.
He was jailed largely in part thanks to a person that his brother John had "adopted" when he was a kid.
John found a 12 year boy in his shed and took the kid in as his own.
This kid later became privy to knowledge of the criminal activities of John and Charles and he helped the government put them away.

To date:

Al Capone by John Kobler, Mr Capone by Robert J Schoenberg, and The Mafia And The Machine by Frank R Hayde.

Hayde's is a slime 190+ book, but it moves at a blistering pace and sets the record straight on Pendergast and his political machine, his mob and political ties including a farmer cum President of the United States Harry S Truman, Kansas City Mafia aka the KC Outfit and it's front men Johnny Lazia and Charlie Binaggio; mobsters Joseph "Scarface" DiGiovanni, James Balestrere, Tano Lococo, Tony Gizzo and the Civellas - "Uncle Nick," "Carl the Cork" and "Tony Ripe", and William "Willie Rat" Dominick Cammisano Sr.

The Union Station Massacre, River Quay War with the Bonadonnas and Speros brothers, the Strawman case (one of the source inspirations for Scorsese's Casino), etc. I hope KC native Frank R Hayde continues to write more on the KC underworld.

Worst: well after reading both the Kobler and Schoenberg biographies Jonathan Eig's book is tripe.

I'll second that, Mr. Capone was a very very good book and definitely the best book I've read on Capone.

The no facial hair thing is for the Genovese Family, the other families dont have that rule. I remember reading that it showed up on some wiretap from some Genovese guys back when they were investigating the windows scam.

Not many people know this, but apparently The Colombos have a no pubic hair rule.

This was one of the things I really wondered about.

It suprises me that practically every "mafiosi" in the United States don't have facial hair, although very few sometimes had a mustache.

So if it's just a myth, how come almost every wiseguy doesn't have facial hair?

I always thought it had something to do with the old 'Mustache Pete's'.

I really doubt this has anything to do with some rule. If anyone can give me an example of a guy that got shelved because of facial hair, then I'd love to hear about it. Or clipped..that's even better.

the bonnano's have that rule lefty ruggiero made donnie brasco shave his mustache

Albert Anastasia - after receiving numerous warnings, he was planning on having his fu manchu shaved off that day in the barber shop at the Park Central. Unfortunately, he didn't move fast enough.

You're absolutely right. Fucker was growing a beard!!! Finally we have closure.

IF this is in fact true, then quite the opposite, it shows that they dont "like" or didnt "like" facial hair.

Old timers, yes, there were certain rules for certain crews, familes, etc, about facial hair.

Today-No, these guys dont have any rules today it seems.

AS for the books....

I stated "Making Jack Falcone" was the absolute worts book I own, well I went back the last few days and read some of it and well, I was right. This guy is a self tooting BLOW HARD.

He really thinks he was going to get made, and he may have but I will tell you this....

Insert him in Joe Pistone place, at that time, at that era, with those people and that family? Hes dead in 2 days.

He compares himself to Pistone so much in the book it makes me sick. Also in a Joe Pistone interview when asked about "Jack Falcone" Pistones response was "who" Enough said.

I almost forgot about that one, Vinny. That is indeed one of the 5 or 7 best books ever written about organized crime. The concise retelling of the the Bonanno family history in the opening 2 or 3 chapters rivaled Selwyn Raab's take the situation, and blew away the fairy tales spun by both Joe and Bill Bonanno.

The only disappointing thing about that book was that DeStefano seemed to skip the 1990s entirely. He jumped from Massino's incarceration in '87, briefly mentioned his release in '92, then jumped way ahead to the Gerlando Sciascia situation in '99. There may have been a brief mention of Sal Vitale running things for awhile, but nothing about how Massino rebuilt the Bonannos into a legitimate family again (albeit for a brief while) after his release from prison in '92. It would have made very interesting copy. But my best guess is, he just didn't have the information available.

I mean, whe else would he exclude it?

Yeah I think you're right about that, but that just shows you how thorough and good this guy is. He's not gonna just put something in there, so he can fill up some vacuum for the reader. The truth is what's important to this guy. But we will probably get to hear the entire Massino story in the nearest future. Some of these witnesses will write a book.

I think it is common for a mafia guy to tell an associate he is going to try and get him made when he is attempting to get his hooks in him. I don't think there was a chance in hell the fat slob was going to be made.

I didn't say Carneglia was shelved because of his facial hair, I just don't know if he was active for a while. To his credit he was able to avoid prison for a long time.

yeah i think jack falcone went to much on greg depalma's bullshit! i really don't think they would have made anyone into the gambino's based on his recommendation. perhaps if it were the colombos it would be a dif story. being a person who has dealt with alot of cops, probation officers, task force agents, you can notice one similarity about all dif types of law enforcement and that is that they are trained to hype themselves up and believe what they want to believe and see things in their own light to suit them best!

Not many people know this, but apparently The Colombos have a no pubic hair rule.

I wont ask how the boss enforces that rule! - LOL

Andy Mush has a sauna in his house. The boys have no choice, but to join him.

From Andy's Facebook

Carneglia used to dye his hair purple and other crazy colors too, he must have been heavy with the drink and drugs then.

Goddamn you crack me up Vinny.

Anyhoo... Five Families. Awsesome book. & Idiots Guide to the Mafia.
I try to get books on as many of the Family's as i can, & to that extant, The Last Mafioso i get into, really for the sheer number of West Coast & Mid Western mobsters identified. I get into Scott Deitch's work on Trafficante & Tampa, a little different from aloth of others in that its mainly a history with there being such little activity for so long. Sadly the only Anastasia Ive got is The Last Gangster, which i thought was great; i think its about time Blood & Honour made its way into my library.

Ive got Family Secrets & Motor City Mafia coming in the mail seriously cant wait. That one on Dallas sounds great, can anyone suggest something on KC? & if there's anything written on Pittsburgh, Buffalo & Rochester etc?

Oh & The Sixth Family. The only thing that sucks about that is when it went to the presses, Rizzuto had just been jailed & they were still in their nadir. Then everything changed so fast!

Ack sorry for the long post but there are so many i really dug, like I Heard You Paint Houses & Gamorra. Midnight in Sicily is not a typical true crime work in that it instead focuses on the nature of Italian politics & how the mafia fitted into it.

There being too many "worst" ones to name, ill say that the majority are, which makes the good ones that much better.

My two favorites are Blood & Honor and Murder Machine. Couple other favorites are Donnie Brasco and The Goodfella Tapes.

Anything by Philip Carlo is garbage...but even with that said I might check out his book on Tommy Pitera.

I wonder if Joey and Anthony have read "Murder Machine" in jail?

Best: I agree with TB/PB--"Five Families," by Selwyn Raab, and "Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life," by Robert Lacey.

Recommendations-Gangs Of New York-by Herbert Asbury, Accardo: The Genuine Godfather by William F. Roemer Jr.

I doubt it, most max federal joints do not have any books related to "true crime". I saw that on an episode MSNBC lockup where they interviewed some low level wanna be wiseguy.

yeah but they let them watch stuff on tv about themselves. i was watching msnbc about bernie madoff and it was saying how he gets a hardon and brags about everytime he gets to see himself on tv

Sonny,

I will have to disagree. Luciano died at the airport trying to sell the movie rights to the book/manuscript. The book is written in Lucianos voice according to his living step brother.

You wonder if Joey and Anthony read Murder Machine? Where do you think Capeci/Mustain got half their info from? According to Roy DeMeo's son, Albert, the Gemini Twins were a major resource for Capeci/Mustain on that book, as was Henry Borelli. Al's argument: They made his father the fall guy -- made him the evil serial killer who hacked up his victims, while giving themselves all lesser roles. Their strategy wasn't a total success, but the biggest spotlight was on Roy, as the leader....Do I know this for certain? Of course not -- but that is what Al wrote in his not-bad book, "For the Sins of My Father." It has the ring of truth if you have read the book. There is info that had to have come from the "inner circle" and not just cokehead Montiglio...

Five Families, I think is the best all-encompassing history of the American Mafia.

No offense, but I prefer the oppinions of Jerry Capeci and other organized crime expert above yours.

The best for me is my first book I read about the Mafia:

The Sicilian Mafia by John Dickie. It explains its origins and what the Mafia is. It has in depth information.

For the worst? I don't have any. Like them all. Every book has certain qualities. And I didn't read any book where info was completely wrong. If that happens then that book will be my worst

There is a footnote in Carlo's new book (reading it...reads like garbage so far) when he is referring to the Galante murder.


*It should be noted here that Richard Kuklinski, aka the Ice Man, would later claim to be involved in the Galante murder, which turned out to be untrue.



You think Phil?

Best.
Quote.
Ever.